Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007    Text size: 

Cornetta told XBIZ that last month he and his wife started a fund to aid the families of fallen fire fighter Felix Roberts and fire victim John Callahan, as well as assist in building a local fire department in Johns Creek — which only just became an official city at the end of last year.

In addition to a personal donation of $1,000, Cornetta has put together 1 percent of sales from all Love Shack stores and 2 percent of sales from its Johns Creek location — and has raised almost $7,000 to be presented to Mayor Mike Bodker.

However, Cornetta said that Bodker has refused the donation on the grounds that it is inappropriate to accept money from a company whom he is suing. Cornetta said the city has raised $150,000 with donations from a local country club to keep him and his adult business out of Johns Creek.

"I think he's totally posturing and in a bad place right now," Cornetta said. "He built a desk and an office for himself before he built a fire department."

Bodker was unavailable for comment at press time. It has been reported that he and other local opposition believe Cornetta's motivations are purely publicity driven.

Cornetta has established the Cornetta Charity Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for causes such as rape counseling, sexually transmitted disease treatment and research and help for battered women. Cornetta said he hopes that organizations will be more apt to accept donations from the foundation, rather than from him personally.

He said he and his wife have been donating money, toys and time to various children's charities for years and only now have had donations returned because of their affiliation with the adult industry.

Pastor Michael Cole, who is on the Cornetta Charity Foundation's board, told XBIZ that he understands where the mayor is coming from, but that he should look at Cornetta's heart, rather than his occupation.

"The mayor is not paying the price for this," Cole said. "The families that have lost lives are paying the price. I think the mayor needs to look beyond the political situation."